Some people think when you adopt a whole food plant based diet that your menu will be limited and your food choices are restrictive. Actually the opposite is true. Suddenly you discover a wide array of new food choices that you never even thought of before. Wild rice is one of my favorite foods now and something I rarely ate before unless it happened to be in a rice pilaf at a restaurant. Now I make it all the time. It couldn’t be easier to make using the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. Tom and I even made a short a video for you showing just how simple it is to make.

Instant Pot Wild RiceNutmeg Notebook

There are so many ways to enjoy wild rice – and it freezes well so go ahead and cook a pound of it at one time. Tom and I like to toss some cold wild rice into our Big Beautiful Salads or our Big Beautiful Chopped Salads. It has a nice chewy texture and a nutty flavor that we really enjoy. It’s also wonderful in veggie burgers – it adds a nice texture – just replace some or all of brown rice called for in the recipe. If you have a creamy butternut squash soup or a broccoli bisque soup toss in handful or two of wild rice to give the soup a little something to bite on! Make a pilaf – water saute some onions, mushrooms and garlic then add some herbs like Thyme and toss with hot wild rice. Add some oven roasted Kabocha squashand you have a meal. Toss some wild rice with sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, Italian seasoning and a splash of balsamic vinegar – yum!

Instant Pot Wild RiceNutmeg Notebook

After the rice cools down divide it into smaller portions and freeze it. We freeze it in 4 cup containers. You can also use the quart size freezer bags – they lay flat and you can stack them – perfect for smaller freezers.

Watch this video and see how easy it is to make wild rice in the pressure cooker. I buy the organic wild rice from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. I didn’t show rinsing the rice but it is a good idea to rinse your rice with cold water before cooking it.

Nutmeg Notes

It has been feeling like Spring here this past week with un-seasonably warm temperatures. Our trees are blooming and the neighbors daffodils are already in bloom. It is so exciting! This starts me thinking about different foods and lighter recipes.

I have my first in home cooking class coming up later this month. I am very excited that so many people have signed up and are interested in learning how to cook delicious whole food plant based recipes. It’s a blessing to be able to share about this healthy lifestyle and how amazing the food is.

Happy Healthy Cooking,

Tami

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A Little Nutmeg Nugget: When I started this blog in January of 2010 I followed what I understood to be a healthy version of the standard American diet, ironically also known as the “SAD” diet. As interest in my own health and how it was affected by the food I ate evolved, I transitioned to a whole food plant based diet also known as “WFPB” diet. I have wrestled with the fact that this blog still contains all those posts and recipes from the SAD way of eating I have left behind. I no longer advocate for anyone to eat that way. At this time I am leaving those recipes and posts here. It is a record of my journey and how I came to follow a WFPB way of eating. It is my hope that those who still come here for those old recipes will be curious about what I am doing now. Perhaps they will dip their toes across the line as I did and try some plant based recipes and learn more about the health benefits.

Have you tried Wild Rice – if so how do you like to eat it? Leave me a comment!

Heidi Zomnir (Heidi Zee on UWL) says:

Another wonderful post, Tami! I’m so excited to let you know that I shared this with my son, who follows a WFPB diet and asked for an IP for his birthday. He’s very interested in learning to use the IP to batch-cook so he has plenty of food in the fridge to help sustain his very healthy lifestyle. I’m so proud of him, and so happy to know I can point him in your direction for expert, warmly-presented, oh-so creative ideas and information. Thanks so much for all you do!!

How wonderful that your son is following a WFPB lifestyle. Batch cooking is how we create our own “fast food!” I am so delighted that you are sharing my blog posts with your son. That is the best vote of confidence I could hope for!